pecific instinct itself. It is rather a sort of
make-believe activity of all the instincts. Kittens and dogs may be seen
in play to mimic fighting. They bite and chew each other as in real
fighting, but still they are not fighting.

As the structures and organs of children mature, they demand activity.
This early activity is called play. It has several characteristics. The
main one is that it is pleasurable. Play activity is pleasurable in
itself. We do not play that we may get something else which we like, as
is the case with the activity which we call work. Play is an end in
itself. It is not a means to get something else which is intrinsically
valuable.

One of the chief values of play comes from its activity aspect. We are
essentially motor beings. We grow and develop only through exercise. In
early life we do not have to exert ourselves to get a living. Play is
nature's means of giving our organs the exercise which they must have to
bring them to maturity. Play is an expression of the universal tendency
to action in early life. Without play, the child would not develop,
would not become a normal human being.

All day long the child is ceaselessly active. The value of this activity
can hardly be overestimated. It not only leads to healthy growth, but is
a means through which the child learns himself and the world. Everything
that the child sees excites him to react to it or upon it. He gets
possession of it. He bites it. He pounds it. He throws it. In this way
he learns the properties of things and the characteristics of forces.
Through play and imitation, in a very few years the child comes to a
successful adjustment in his world.

Play and imitation are the great avenues of activity in early life. Even
in later life, we seldom accomplish anything great or worth while until
the thing becomes play to us, until we throw our whole being into it as
we do in play, until it is an expression of ourselves as play is in our
childhood. The proper use of play gives us the solution of many of the
problems of early education.

Play has two functions in the school: (1) Motor play is necessary to
growth, development, and health. The constant activity of the child is
what brings about healthy growth.

In the country it is not difficult for children to get plenty of the
proper kind of exercise, but in the larger cities it is difficult.
Nevertheless, opportunity for play should be provided for every child,
no matter what the